Key takeaway: A one-bedroom in Jefferson Park rents for about $1,575 to $1,600 a month in fall 2026, two-bedrooms about $2,100 to $2,275, and the Jefferson Park Transit Center puts the Blue Line, Metra and about a dozen bus routes in one place.
Jefferson Park is on the Far Northwest Side along Milwaukee Avenue, about 25 minutes from the Loop on Metra. The transit center makes it one of the easiest places in the city to live without a car. Its typical one-bedroom, about $1,600 a month, runs about $479 below the citywide typical of $2,079 (Zillow, September 2026), the 32nd highest of the 92 areas in our neighborhood comparison.
| Typical one-bedroom | $1,600 a month |
| Typical two-bedroom | $2,100 a month |
| Income for your own one-bedroom | About $64,000 a year |
| L lines | Blue |
| Metra | Union Pacific Northwest |
| Part of the city | Northwest Side |
On this page: Rent · Getting around · Groceries · Parking · Taxes and home prices · Sample budget
Rent by apartment size
| Unit | Zumper (avg., Oct 2026) | RentHop (median, Oct 2026) | RentHop, ZIP 60630 (Sep 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | $1,300 | $1,275 | $1,295 |
| 1 bedroom | $1,600 | $1,575 | $1,525 |
| 2 bedrooms | $2,100 | $2,275 | $2,275 |
| 3 bedrooms | $2,424 | $2,775 | $2,250 |
Source: Zumper Jefferson Park rent research, as of October 24, 2026; RentHop Jefferson Park; RentHop 60630. Sources differ because they track different listings; see why rent reports disagree.
Getting around
- Jefferson Park Transit Center: the Blue Line, Metra’s Jefferson Park station on the Union Pacific Northwest Line (Zone 2) and CTA buses #56, #68, #81, #81W, #85, #85A, #88, #91 and #92, plus Pace routes including the Pulse Milwaukee Line.
- More L and Metra: the Blue Line also stops at Montrose (City of Chicago list of L stops), and Metra’s Gladstone Park (Union Pacific Northwest) and Forest Glen (Milwaukee District North) stations are nearby, all Zone 2 at $3.75 one way (Metra fares). See Metra fares.
A 30-day CTA pass is $75 (CTA).
Groceries nearby
| Store | Address |
|---|---|
| Jewel-Osco Central and Lawrence | 4729 N. Central Ave. |
| Jewel-Osco Pueblo and Lawrence (just west) | 4734 N. Cumberland Ave. |
Source: each store’s own location page or locator, checked October 25, 2026. See our Chicago grocery guide.
Parking
If you will have a car, check your block with the City Clerk’s zone lookup before you sign a lease. Adding a residential permit zone to your City Sticker costs $25 to $35 a year, on top of the $105.18 passenger-car sticker; our parking guide covers guest passes, meters and garages.
Property taxes and home prices
Jefferson Park is in Jefferson Township, last reassessed in 2024 (Cook County Assessor). The Assessor’s 2024 report put Jefferson Park median sale prices at $210,000 for a condo, $440,000 for a single-family home and $554,000 for a two-to-six-unit building (Cook County Assessor, 2024 Chicago report). The Treasurer put the 2024 median sale price for the Portage Park, Dunning and Jefferson Park area at $385,000, up 38.6% since 2020 (Cook County Treasurer, tax year 2024 report). Citywide, the median Chicago homeowner bill for tax year 2025, mailed in August 2026, was $4,597, up 3.2% (Cook County Treasurer). For how bills are set and how to appeal, see our property tax guide.
Jefferson Park cost of living: a sample monthly budget
| Setup | Rent | CTA pass | Income needed at 30% rent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your own one-bedroom | $1,600 | $75 | $64,000 |
| Half of a two-bedroom | $1,050 | $75 | $42,000 |
| Your own two-bedroom | $2,100 | $75 | $84,000 |
Source: our calculation from the Zumper averages above. Income needed is monthly rent times 12, divided by 0.30. For a fuller answer that includes taxes and the rest of your budget, try our Chicago salary calculator, and see Chicago move-in costs for what you’ll pay up front.
Compare every neighborhood side by side in our Chicago neighborhood cost comparison, or work out your own number with our salary calculator. More Northwest Side neighborhood profiles: Albany Park, Avondale, Belmont Cragin, Bucktown, Dunning, Edison Park, Hermosa, Irving Park, Logan Square, Montclare, Norwood Park, O’Hare, Old Irving Park, Portage Park and Sauganash and Forest Glen.
Costs that apply in every neighborhood: property tax bills, closing costs and condo fees, water, sewer and garbage fees, ComEd and Peoples Gas, CTA fares, parking, average salaries by job and our Chicago cost index.
Sources
- Zumper: Jefferson Park rent
- RentHop: Jefferson Park rent
- RentHop: 60630 rent
- Metra: Jefferson Park
- Metra: Gladstone Park
- Metra: Forest Glen
- Metra fare table
- Cook County Assessor: Jefferson Township values
- Cook County Treasurer: tax year 2024 report
- City of Chicago: list of L stops
- CTA fares
- City Clerk: City Sticker prices
- City Clerk: residential zone parking
- Cook County Assessor: 2024 Chicago report
- Cook County Treasurer: tax year 2025 analysis